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by james schroer

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I'm looking at going for my Bachelor's degree in the Information Technology field. Non of my local college offer anything like this. So I decided to check out some online colleges. What are your opinions on online colleges? Have you ever tried one and if so did the degree help you? Who do you recommend? I've only talked to one at this time and it's WestWood College. They have actual campuses and online degrees. What's your thoughts?

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by mmbarreca

I don't have any personal experience with an online university (other than one that somehow got my home number, called every day for 2 weeks and left messages on my answering machine) but it depends on what type of learner you are and what you intend to learn.

If your focus will have hardware/networking components, it may be easier to have a hands-on education so that when you're employed (hopefully) and sitting in front of a server, you know what you're doing from experience. However, if your focus will be related to programming, an online degree may be a viable alternative.

I don't know what area of the country you are in but there are several colleges and universities in my area (and I've heard this is prevalent around the country) that have begun offering online classes to compliment their other offerings. You may want to look into one of these possibilities (or at least a state school that you know).

by dc_guy

A big part of the college experience is being part of a group. Much of what is learned in college comes from discussions with other students. Check to make sure that the classes have regular meetings by phone or video conference. It's worth mentioning that a large segment of the people in IT were attracted to the profession partially because of its minimal requirements for "people skills," and that backfires on us every day. If I were comparing two resumes of recent graduates, I would prefer the person who had more contact with students and faculty while doing his or her college work.

by james schroer

I understand what you are saying and yes that would be and Ideal situation but the problem I have is I have two kids at home, I live an hour and 10 min from where I work and no place even close in that hour and ten mins is there a place that offers a B.S. in the IT field. I was able to get my Assoc. in that type of enviroment and really liked it but there is no possible way to be able to do that now. I'm just wanting to know if someone has done this and how it's worked out for them. When I build my resume it will say B.S. in I.T. and won't have anything about if it was online or at a physical college.

by aldanatech

I'm currently attending Capella University (www.capella.edu) working on my BS in Information Technology with a concentration on Network Technology. Before taking the decision of continuing my education online I was thinking of going to a local University, but there were some issues I faced. The first was that not many credits would transfer from my AAS in Computer Information Systems from my Community College because it has a strong concentration in Telecommunications and Networking. The University doesn't have a degree in Networking; it offers a BS in Computer Science of a BA in Information Management. Neither one worked out for me. The second issue was that school is relatively far from home and the schedules are not very flexible. I checked around other alternatives, and that is when I found Capella as my choice. It offers accredited Bachelor, Master, and PhD degrees online. I already took a couple of classes for my AAS, so I was not that unfamiliar to online education, and because they have a BS that relates directly to my AAS, it turns out that I was only one year away to graduate. Of course I took far more courses that I required at the Community College, but they can also take certifications and work experience for credit. You should take a look at it. You can even take a 2-minute advisor to see if online education is for you.

http://www.capella.edu

by aldanatech

In online education, you will be mostly responsible for your learning. Instructors will post readings and assignments to be completed within a determined time period -- usually about a week. Communication with instructors and students is available through e-mail, phone, or chat. In Capella University (www.capella.edu), classroom experience is replaced with discussion in message boards. Participation in these discussion will count as part of your grade, along with your assignments and projects. Projects will be either individual, by team, or both. This kind of education is particularly useful for people that work on non-flexible schedules or have other responsibilities that stand in the way of their education such as kids. Other people that benefit are those that are on the road such as the military. Even if non of these apply to your situation, you can still find online education to be an interesting experience if you don't find it to be so necessary to be in a classroom.

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